A shocking video of several tourists crowding around two wild elk to take photos infuriated many people online.
The Colorado Adventures (@ColoradoAdventuresCO) YouTube account posted a clip of people surrounding wild elk. Filmed in Estes Park, the reel shows several humans aggressively close to the animals. One man holds up his phone just a few feet from an elk. A couple also takes pictures from mere paces away.
Being this close to such a beautiful creature is certainly exciting but also severely dangerous. Elk may not evoke as much fear as grizzly bears, but they should.
"While they can appear calm, elk are wild animals that can be dangerous," the National Park Service notes. These majestic animals indeed have a calm aura, but approaching them like this is treacherous.
The Estes Park website even has a section dedicated to elk safety. It explains you are too close if the elk is watching you and seems jumpy. In the video, the male elk appears to be surveying the crowd. He looks directly at the nearby couple, suggesting he views them as a threat.
In the first half of 2024 alone, there was an unprecedented number of elk attacks in Colorado, according to The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. Frequent close encounters put the animals on edge, making them more likely to attack. Elk are also particularly aggressive during mating season and calving season.
Understandably, elk become hostile when humans get too close, especially to calves. But when wild animals react, they're often the ones punished. Fortunately, elk are usually just "hazed" by rangers until they move away. Not all animals are so fortunate, though, as some have been euthanized for showing aggressive behavior toward people.
People in the comments were seething. "You're not at a petting zoo, people!" one person said. Another commented, "That elk could kill you with one headbutt."
Ultimately, it is our responsibility to maintain safe distances from wild animals. As the Estes Park website poignantly put it, "Elk know no boundaries, but people do."
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